The Commodore's Stand #41

South Blue Reverse Mountain Marine Branch

"968...969...970..." I muttered as I lay on the ground inside the training area of the marine base, doing handstand pushups alone. It's been two days since I arrived, and although my stay here has been boring so far, it hasn't been unpleasant, at least.

I applied Ensign O'Brien's advice and stayed away from the soldiers in the base, and they were content to give me a wide berth. Commodore Daiging, the man in charge of the marine base, gave me the same treatment as I bumped into him several times, and he merely scowled at me before walking away.

I recently learned that almost everyone here was a die-hard supporter of Akainu's so-called absolute justice, which might explain their inaction. They were clearly displeased by my presence here and the fact that I was to join the Marines despite being a wanted criminal, but they didn't go out of their way to badger me.

Very much like Admiral Sakazuki, they believed the words of their superiors to be the word of God, and if the Marine HQ higher-ups said they wanted me to join, then the soldiers would accept it, reluctant as they were.

In any case, I found myself with a surplus of free time, and so to avoid death due to boredom, I spent most of my time either playing with Chuchun or training.

Naturally, I couldn't train with my spear since they took it, and I couldn't practice the Rokushiki either since I didn't want anyone to know about the manual Liu Fan gave me. So, I went back to the basics: strength and conditioning exercises, alongside long sessions of meditation.

"... 1000..." I muttered as I finished the last pushup and pushed myself off the ground, twisting my body to land in a cross-legged pose, ready to start meditating.

However, I only closed my eyes for several seconds before the shouts of marine soldiers came from outside, causing me to lose focus. "Now what...?" I said with a frown as I tried to ignore the racket and keep practicing.

However, the shouts grew louder as the seconds passed, and I couldn't stay focused no matter how hard I tried, prompting me to get off the ground, prematurely ending my meditation session.

"Might as well go and see what's going on..."

...

"Clear off the shore...!" Commodore Daiging exclaimed, standing at the islet's shore and glaring at the gigantic sea king poking its elongated, snake-like head out of the water.

"You'll only get in the way! This thing is too dangerous!" The commodore added as he drew his sword with a scowl and lowered his posture, preparing to attack.

The sea king, a gigantic striped cobra with the snout of an anteater and the protruding eyes of a chameleon, roared in response, seemingly angered by the commodore's defiance.

It submerged its elongated snout into the sea and inhaled the salt water before turning to the commodore. The creature roared, the thunderous boom of its beastly shriek accompanied by a violent jet of water flying straight toward Commodore Daigin.

The commodore maintained his calm, tightly gripping his sword as he swung it, unleashing a flying crescent slash that dissected the water jet but dissipated before reaching the sea king's head.

The sea king's anger only seemed to grow more intense at the actions of the commodore as it twisted its body and raised its tail out of the water before sending it flying toward him.

Gritting his teeth, Commodore Daigin jumped into the air and met the sea king's tail head-on with a swing of his blade that managed to penetrate the beast's scales and draw blood, much to the excitement of the spectating marine soldiers as they cheered.

However, the excited cheers of the soldiers instantly died down as the sea king quickly overpowered the commodore and slammed him into the ground, cracking the dried-up dirt.

Intent on finishing its audacious opponent, the sea king submerged its snout into the sea and began inhaling water. Realizing what was about to happen, the marine soldiers began shouting as dozens of them ran toward the commodore, trying to save his life.

"Stay away!" The commodore bellowed as he noticed the marine soldiers running toward him. "Get into the base and call for--" He went on, pausing halfway through his sentence as he saw a blonde young man flying over him and straight toward the sea king.

The giant beast saw him coming and swiftly sent its tail flying toward him, and the young man, Cedric, twisted and maneuvered his body in the air, avoiding the attack by a hair's breadth.

Not only did Cedric dodge the tail, but he also managed to land on it and use it as leverage to send himself flying toward the sea king's head, much to everyone's shock.

Flying in the air like a cannonball, Cedric cocked his fist back and punched the sea king straight under its snout, causing it to spit out the water as it staggered back away from the islet's shore.

Though shocked, several marine soldiers quickly gathered their bearings as they hurried to the commodore's side and moved him away as the young man kept the sea king busy.

"What are you doing, you fools?!" The commodore exclaimed as he turned to the rest of the soldiers rooted on the spot in shock with their eyes wide open and jaws agape.

"Hurry up and prepare the cannons!" Commodore Daigin exclaimed, and his booming, authoritative voice instantly snapped his subordinates out of their daze, prompting them to move as they scattered around the islet's port to man the cannons.

Meanwhile, Cedric had already swum back to the shore as the sea king struggled to regain its balance in the water, and he immediately noticed what the marine soldiers were doing.

He waited patiently until the soldiers fired the first barrage of cannonballs which barely seemed to faze the beast before jumping into the air, spinning his body, and delivering a devastating kick to the sea king's head, which stopped it from advancing on the port.

Instead of landing in the water again, he managed to cling to the beast's head and deliver several punches to the back of its head, which greatly dazed the sea king.

Then, with a grunt of effort, he gripped the hood of the beast's cobra-like head and pulled it back to reveal the weak area under its snout that wasn't protected by the sea king's steel-hard scales.

"Aim at the neck!" Cedric exclaimed, and the marine soldiers handling the cannons hesitated only for a fraction of a second before firing their now-loaded cannons.

The young man barely resisted the urge to curse as he hid behind the sea king's hood with several cannonballs flying over his head. Still, three projectiles hit the vulnerable neck and injured the beast, prompting him to hold his tongue.

He quickly let go of the beast's hood and almost fell into the water as it violently thrashed its body and loudly roared in agony. Still, he barely managed to keep his footing without stumbling as he climbed down the gigantic creature's head.

Eventually, he reached the wound on the beast's neck and immediately buried his fist into it, gouging one chunk of flesh after the other with his bare hands.

The sea king's struggles grew more violent due to the pain as it sensed its impending doom, but it could do nothing to shake the young man off as he clung to its neck and continued to gouge its flesh until he finally reached its trachea and crushed it open.

The young man quickly released his grip on the sea king's wounded neck, jumped into the seawater, and hurriedly swam back to the shore. Jumping back into the port and watching as the beast's movements slowly turned sluggish and its struggles died down, he sighed in relief.

"You looked like you knew what you were doing..." Ensign O'Brien said as he approached Cedric once the sea king stopped moving, and its lifeless corpse began floating away for the islet's shore.

"Aye... I faced one of these things before, but it was a lot smaller..." Cedric replied as he removed his wet shirt and began twisting it to squeeze out the seawater. "And I had my spear..." He added, giving the ensign a side glance.

"Huh... the rear admiral said you'd be quite strong, but I'm not sure even he knew to which extent..." The ensign thoughtfully remarked, alternating his gaze between the sea king's corpse and Cedric.

"In any case... you said something about being a trained physician when you first arrived...?" Ensign O'Brien said as he turned to the injured commodore, still barking orders at his subordinates, and Cedric merely nodded.

...

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